Athlete of the Week: Porter Gaud's KJ James

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) -- For five years, KJ James has been making highlight reels for local sports reporters. He's been a varsity star since eighth grade and is now a big college prospect.{}

This past Saturday, James even outdid himself.{}"My teammates did a good job to realize I was hot that night. They were putting me in positions to score and I got good passes and scored for them," James said.{}Saturday night was one of those nights they just gave him the ball and got out of the way.{}"It was very impressive, a special night for KJ," said John Pearson. "It makes it easy when someone can roll off points like that. He makes the coach and the team look good."When all was said and done, James had set a Porter Gaud record, scoring 44 points in one game. A few nights later, he dropped 32 more points.{}"It's definitely in the DNA. He's been on varsity since eighth grade and producing the entire time. He knows the game, he's very physical inside and out and does what is needed," Pearson said.{}Talk about basketball being in James' blood -- his dad played with Magic Johnson at Michigan State. And his mom is an ACC referee.{}"Even at dinner, weekends too, I'm trying to get shots up. I'm working on getting better every day," James said. "I'm not going to lie, in eighth and ninth grade, it terrified me that big name coached were in the stands watching. As time progressed, I got used to it. It's normal now.""The team has been good for the last several years with talent. It's not often at a small school you get kids with talent like KJ. But who knows, maybe his brother is next," Pearson said.{}Who knows. But hoops are in the DNA for the James family.